Undergraduates dig deeper with research

By Ashley R. Smith

Some of the most meaningful undergraduate academic
experiences come from research. Not only do students
delve into a focused area of interest, they gain hands-on
experience applying technical skills while putting their
analytical and critical-thinking abilities to practice.

For students in the Watson School, opportunities abound;
there are independent projects with faculty or organized
programs such as the Research Experience for Undergraduates,
the McNair Scholars Program, the Louis Stokes Alliance
for Minority Participation summer research programs, the
Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Program funded by the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Summer Undergraduate
Research Fellowship Program offered through the National
Institute of Standards and Technology.

Highly motivated students are entering the workforce with
a jump on their fellow graduates. They’ve worked with leading
researchers, co-authored published papers and given conference
presentations. Could you ask for better real-world preparation?

This spring, we asked four graduating seniors and a recent
alumna about their exciting and unique research experiences as
undergraduates.

Jesse Elweel '11

COMPUTER SCIENCE

How did you get into research at Binghamton?

Junior year, I took advanced computer architecture and
it piqued my interest in the low-level details of modern
computer design. I inquired with Professor Dmitry
Ponomarev about his research in secure architecture in
modern computing systems, and he offered me a position
as project assistant. I was also accepted into Binghamton’s
Research Experience for Undergraduates program to
continue my research over the summer.

What are you working on?

My two active projects concern security in modern computer
architectures. One evaluates performance and use of trusted
platform modules and has yielded a paper that was accepted
to the Design Automation Conference 2011. The second
project is a hardware bounds-checking solution that utilizes
multiple cores — we hope to have a paper ready soon.

Outcomes to date?

I’ve co-authored two published papers in the last year. I was
very involved in crafting the second, so it was a really great
feeling when it was accepted.

Has your experience influenced your plans?

I was inspired to pursue my PhD in hopes of becoming
a professor of computer science with an active future in
both teaching and research. I never considered a career in
academia until I became a project assistant, but now I will be
attending Binghamton’s graduate school in the fall.

What advice would you give to other students?

Research is a challenging yet rewarding experience in which
you can work on global issues, from computer security to
cleaner energy. Remember that research is incremental
— a simple idea, when combined with others, can produce
beautiful results.

Nick Ciaravella ’11

DOUBLE DEGREE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS
RESEARCHING IN ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING

How did you first get into research at
Binghamton University?

My interest in information security stemmed from Professor
Scott Craver’s courses on cryptography and information
security. I participated in a Research Experience for Undergraduates
program in cyber security at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and soon after approached
Professor Craver about opportunities with his projects.

What are you working on?

We’re developing a system called AINT (AINT Is Not
There) — a steganographic file system that can be
installed and run from an ordinary flash drive. While a
cryptographic file system will protect your data by making
it unreadable to another person, a steganographic file
system will be completely hidden, so it appears to be
nonexistent. Later, a user interface can be built on top of
it to give it a completely hidden operating environment.

What has been your favorite moment?

When I was able to successfully boot and interact with our encrypted server on the flash drive, it was confirmation that our concept could actually work.

Your advisor is well known for his research;
what has it been like working with him?

It’s been an excellent experience. Professor Craver and I
discuss problems and possible solutions, and then set goals.
He gives his input but also encourages me to share mine.
We hope to submit a paper on AINT to a conference this year

Advice for others interested in
undergraduate research?

Participate in a REU program, especially if you’re planning
on attending graduate school. They are held at many universities
and are a great way to gain research experience while
making money, traveling and meeting people from around
the country.

Julian Baldwin ’11

BIOENGINEERING

How did you get involved in research?

As I continued through the core curriculum, I started talking
with my advisor, Professor Jacques Beaumont, about research
opportunities within the department.

What are you working on?

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is an abnormal heart rhythm affecting
more than two million Americans each year. Effects of
preventative healthcare are not immediate and we will never
be able to fully switch to preventative measures, so we must
continue to hone treatments for patients who have developed
the condition.

Our goal is to determine the design specifications for a
cardiac stimulator that will detect the presence of AF and
deliver the appropriate amount of current at the right time to
re-initiate normal electrical activity in the heart.

What has been most rewarding?

Getting accepted to and presenting at the National Undergraduate
Conference on Research this semester. Research
requires a lot of work that doesn’t always return dividends
quickly, so when something good happens it keeps the work
interesting and on focus.

What are your future plans?

My research interests have swayed toward public health. I
applied to a graduate program in public health microbiology
and, if accepted, I want to examine the disease transmission
shortcuts introduced to the human network by globalization.

Words of advice for others?

When we’re curious about how something works, we really
have two choices and sometimes have no option to choose.
We can either Google it to find out what other people have
done, or be one of the first to figure it out.

Isaak Ghebremicael ’11

SYSTEM SCIENCE AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

How did you get into research at Binghamton?

In 2009, I began working with Professor Daryl Santos though
the McNair Scholars Program and the Louis Stokes Alliance
for Minority Participation summer research programs. These
programs pair minority students with a faculty research
mentor to prepare students for graduate school.

What are you working on?

I’m working with Professor Santos on electronics packaging.
We’re conducting a comparative study of different soldering
systems used in electronics assembly by looking at the
reliability (measured in hours to failure) of a soldering tip and
the energy consumption of the different stations.

What has
been the most
valuable
experience
so far?

Working in the
laboratory and
seeing things
hands-on instead
of just in theory.

Have your experiences affected your plans?

Working with Professor Santos has been a great experience
that will prepare me to pursue my master’s and PhD in
engineering. After, I would like to get involved and help other
minority students graduate from engineering or science fields.

What has come out of your research?

We received third place in the Best Paper category at the
2010 ASEE NCS Spring Conference in March for our paper,
“A Comparison of Performance between Distance Learners
and On-Campus Learners in a Graduate Level Quality
Assurance Course for Engineers.” In July, I also presented
our research at the 16th Annual University at Buffalo McNair
Research Conference.

Advice for current and future students?

Take advantage of opportunities to work with professors
during long breaks. You’ll develop good relationships with
your professors and gain valuable experiences that will help
you to be successful.

Maureen Gundlach ’06

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

How did you get into research at Binghamton
University?

I applied to the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
program at NIST, the National Institute of Standards and
Technology. The Watson School chooses a few students each
year who express an interest
in research and assists in
preparing their applications
for the rigorous review
process.

What were you
researching?

A polymer called PBO – the
main material in bulletproof
vests. PBO is a very long-chain
polymer that is spun into
high-tensile strength yarn and
woven into sheets of fabric.
Many layers are then encased
and worn as bulletproof vests.
PBO degrades in the presence
of heat, moisture, acid and
mechanical damage, so the long-term project was to quantify
these effects, and then contribute to national life-cycle
standards of vests and legal cases regarding failures. I
determined the effects of mechanical damage (such as repeated
bending at the waist when sitting and standing) on the tensile
strength of PBO fibers.

What do you remember most?

Sometimes we would bring our bulletproof vests to the
ballistics lab. An intact vest would be strapped to a huge
block of clay and shot at. When I stuck my thumb into the
indentation and saw that the depth of penetration into an
officer’s ribs correlated with the tensile strength of PBO, I
had a great moment of, “Wow, my research can really affect
people’s lives!”

How did your experiences influence your
future plans?

Although I found the subject of my research very interesting,
the daily work of research didn’t fit my personality. You
learn from every experience and it can be just as helpful to
eliminate possibilities as to find them.